Scheduling Your Shot? Try Not To Do It Before Your Mammogram, Docs Say

Fox News: Don’t Schedule Mammogram Near COVID-19 Vaccine, Doctors Warn
Women who recently received the COVID-19 vaccine may need to postpone their annual mammogram if they are due for one soon, say doctors in Utah. Some women who receive the coronavirus vaccine may experience axillary adenopathy, also known as swollen lymph nodes, following vaccination. A doctor in Ohio recently warned that this reaction could be confused for a sign of breast cancer, as many patients are finding swollen lymph nodes under the same arm that they received the jab. (Farber, 2/10)

CBS News: Employers Give Workers Paid Time Off To Get COVID-19 Vaccination 
With a nationwide effort underway to immunize people against a virus that's killed nearly 470,000 Americans, Target on Wednesday became the latest major employer to offer its massive workforce incentives to get the COVID-19 vaccine. (Gibson, 2/10)

KHN: Tech Companies Mobilize To Schedule Vaccine Appointments, But Often Fall Short 
On Jan. 14 at 8:43 p.m., Patrick McKenzie tweeted a plea for tech engineers to help him set up a website to track covid-19 vaccine availability in California. McKenzie, who heads a Bay Area financial services tech company, issued the call to “anyone in California [who] wants to do a civtech project which matters.” The response was swift and resounding. In less than an hour, someone had set up a chat group for brainstorming the effort. By 12:24 a.m. the next day, 70 people had joined. By noon, the tracker was live. Now, just over two weeks later, the site, called VaccinateCA, involves about 300 volunteers. They operate what is essentially a call bank, dialing pharmacies and hospitals for updates about covid vaccine supplies and posting the results on the site. (Green, 2/11)

In updates on vaccine eligibility —

Boston Globe: Mass. To Allow Vaccinations For Younger Companions Who Accompany Older Residents To Appointments
Massachusetts officials on Wednesday relaxed vaccine eligibility rules to let younger people who accompany older residents to mass vaccination sites get shots themselves. The new policy set off a rush by younger spouses, relatives, friends, neighbors, and caregivers of seniors 75 and over to book “companion appointments,” which start Thursday at sites ranging from Fenway Park to Gillette Stadium to the Eastfield Mall in Springfield. “We are trying to do everything we can to help people 75 and over,” said Marylou Sudders, the state’s health and human services secretary. (Weisman, 2/10)

Houston Chronicle: Harris County Will Give Teachers Priority For 'Leftover' COVID-19 Vaccines
Teachers and school staff currently on Harris County Public Health's waiting list for COVID-19 vaccines now will be prioritized if there are any "leftover" doses at the end of each day. Dr. Maria Rivera, who is co-leading the Harris County Health Department’s school advisory group during the pandemic, told ABC 13 that educators will be called if others do not show up for their scheduled appointments. The teachers still will need to qualify for vaccines under phases 1A and 1B of Texas' vaccine allocation plan, which include those over the age of 65 and those with preexisting conditions that could make them more likely to suffer more severe cases of COVID-19. (Webb, 2/10)

Anchorage Daily News: State Widens COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility, Bumping Up All Teachers And Others Including At-Risk Alaskans Over 50
Alaska health officials on Wednesday announced a dramatic shift in groups eligible for scarce COVID-19 vaccine after interest from seniors waned, leaving hundreds of appointments for February still open statewide. Teachers and child care staff of all ages will become eligible for the vaccine beginning Thursday, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Also eligible: Alaskans 50 and older with at least one high-risk medical condition; certain front-line essential workers 50 and older who work near others; people living or working in shelters, prisons, and other congregate settings; and ‘pandemic response staff’ who may come into contact with the coronavirus through their work. (Berman, Krakow and Hollander, 2/10)

AP: Alaska Expands Eligibility For COVID-19 Vaccinations
The state is expanding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations in Alaska to include individuals 50 and older with high-risk medical conditions, pre-kindergarten through grade 12 teachers and childcare workers, and those 50 and older in jobs considered essential who work in close proximity to others. The state health department announced the expansion Wednesday. It said people in those groups can start making appointments Thursday. (2/10)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium To Tighten Requirements Around Vaccine Distribution
Citing the need to get the COVID-19 vaccine to the communities hardest hit by the virus, the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium will enforce stricter rules at their clinics, the group’s founder, physician Ala Stanford, said Wednesday. People who are not at increased risk of serious illness or death — including some who don’t even live in the communities where the clinics are opening — have been coming to her clinics, she said, which means less vaccine is going to those who need it most. “It’s just the wrong thing to do, to come to communities and take it away from folks [in communities] where one in two people have known someone with severe disease, or someone who died from COVID,” Stanford told reporters at a news conference called to announce the changes. “So please, stop doing this. And if you can’t stop, we’re going to help you, because we’re going to be much more stringent.” (Whelan, 2/10)

The New York Times: Primary Care Doctors Feel Left Out Of Vaccine Rollout 
Primary care doctors have grown increasingly frustrated with their exclusion from the nation’s vaccine rollout, unable to find reliable supplies for even their eldest patients and lacking basic information about distribution planning for the shots. “The centerpiece should be primary care,” said Dr. Wayne Altman, the chairman of family medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine who also sees patients in Arlington, Mass. State officials there are using Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium as mass vaccination sites, rather than ensuring practices like his can inoculate patients who are at high risk from the coronavirus. (Abelson, 2/10)

In updates on where to get the vaccine —

Oklahoman: Walmart, Sam's Club To Offer COVID-19 Vaccines In Oklahoma
More than 40 Walmart and Sam's Club stores in Oklahoma will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines starting Friday, Feb. 12. State health leaders announced last week that some doses would start to be allocated to local pharmacies in an attempt to vaccinate more Oklahomans. Keith Reed, Oklahoma's deputy commissioner of health, praised the companies for stepping up to help administer vaccines. “In Oklahoma, partnerships like this will be crucial to the continued success of our vaccine rollout," he said in a news release. "This public-private partnership helps the Oklahoma State Department of Health continue to meet a core tenet of our vaccine plan: to ensure equitable distribution of the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine. (Forman, 2/10)

LA Daily News: Garcetti: Dodger Stadium Vaccine Site To Close For 2 Days, As ‘First-Dose’ Moderna Vaccine Runs Low 
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday, Feb. 10, that the massive Dodger Stadium clinic will be closed for at least two days this week, with the city’s current supply of first-dose Moderna vaccines expected to run out. “This is an enormous hurdle in our race to vaccinate Angelenos,” Garcetti said during his evening briefing on Wednesday. “And unfortunately, it means that we will have to temporarily close Dodger Stadium and the other four non-mobile vaccination sites for two days, on Friday and Saturday.” (Chou, 2/10)